Dance@Brown | DancePVD Blog | Dance For Free | Choreography Opportunities | Facilities | Funding+Grants | Start a New Group
dance @ brown
+ student and faculty run dance companies
+ groups and clubs that hold open practices + student dance thesis projects + free workshops |
+ classes at Brown + in Providence
+ open studio time in our beautiful facilities + fall dance concert + in your seat at one of our many performances |
DAncepvd blog
DancePVD is an initiative to connect the dance community in Providence Rhode Island and interested audience members with the work being made and presented by local professional dance artists. Providence, Rhode Island has a thoughtful, vibrant, daring, and passionate artistic community. Although a small city, and known more for its visual and theater artists, there are a growing number of accomplished and emerging dance artists residing, teaching, creating, and presenting work here.
Our primary goal in starting this blog for the dance community is to be a resource, a field guide to the goings-on of the professional and emerging dance artists of the Greater Providence Rhode Island area, while engaging in thoughtful conversation about the work. We want to spread awareness of the work being created, produced, and presented here, creating a place to fuel conversation of respectful inquisitiveness, curious commentary, and thoughtful reflection, ultimately to encourage inclusion of all audiences.
By assembling a community of: long-time dance practitioners, professors of dance at the various institutions in the area, artist peers, interested students and dance lovers alike to share their thoughtful insights and commentary, we hope to inspire the city of Providence to come experience more dance work and support these dance artists among us!
Let’s start to start a meaningful dialogue about:
- the creation of new work being produced in Providence
- how to share the art form of dance with a wider audience
- encouraging more collaborations between artists of all mediums
- showing the value of developing the dance community in our city
- supporting the work of local professional dance artists
Please check out the blog at dancepvd.wordpress.com and like our Facebook Page !
Our primary goal in starting this blog for the dance community is to be a resource, a field guide to the goings-on of the professional and emerging dance artists of the Greater Providence Rhode Island area, while engaging in thoughtful conversation about the work. We want to spread awareness of the work being created, produced, and presented here, creating a place to fuel conversation of respectful inquisitiveness, curious commentary, and thoughtful reflection, ultimately to encourage inclusion of all audiences.
By assembling a community of: long-time dance practitioners, professors of dance at the various institutions in the area, artist peers, interested students and dance lovers alike to share their thoughtful insights and commentary, we hope to inspire the city of Providence to come experience more dance work and support these dance artists among us!
Let’s start to start a meaningful dialogue about:
- the creation of new work being produced in Providence
- how to share the art form of dance with a wider audience
- encouraging more collaborations between artists of all mediums
- showing the value of developing the dance community in our city
- supporting the work of local professional dance artists
Please check out the blog at dancepvd.wordpress.com and like our Facebook Page !
DANCE FOR FREE
Open Practices | Many of our groups hold weekly practices open to the Brown+RISD communities. Check out their info on the Groups page for more and feel free to email their contact with any questions. Most open practices support all levels of dancer and often include expert instruction. Stop by to hone your skills in a free lesson, to try something new, or just to have fun!
Free Workshops | Body+Sole and many individual companies hold several free workshops taught by both guest professional dancers and choreographers as well as some by student dancers each semester. Body+Sole's include all styles, but have especially focused on contemporary in recent years. Check out Cat Cogliandro for a taste. All workshops are announced on the Body+Sole listerv, so be sure to join it or like us on Facebook for info!
AS220, 95 Empire Street | AS220 dance studio offers drop-in modern, ballet, African and yoga classes to the general Providence community, which are available to Brown student for free. The studio is a 20-minute walk from the main campus and it provides students with access to a lot of amazing local teachers as well as dancers. Be sure to check it out if you want to broaden your dance training and your dance network.
Free Workshops | Body+Sole and many individual companies hold several free workshops taught by both guest professional dancers and choreographers as well as some by student dancers each semester. Body+Sole's include all styles, but have especially focused on contemporary in recent years. Check out Cat Cogliandro for a taste. All workshops are announced on the Body+Sole listerv, so be sure to join it or like us on Facebook for info!
AS220, 95 Empire Street | AS220 dance studio offers drop-in modern, ballet, African and yoga classes to the general Providence community, which are available to Brown student for free. The studio is a 20-minute walk from the main campus and it provides students with access to a lot of amazing local teachers as well as dancers. Be sure to check it out if you want to broaden your dance training and your dance network.
Choreography Opportunities
Companies + Groups | Student group performances consist almost entirely of student choreography. Companies use different methods to select their performance choreography, but opportunities and guidance for beginning choreographers are plentiful, once part of a company or group.
Independent Student Shows | Body+Sole has been increasingly helpful in assisting motivated students coordinate and produce independent shows of their own choreography, unaffiliated with any group or class. These shows are most often organized by seniors as a thesis component; in recent years, both an MCM thesis and an independent concentration Dance thesis have taken the form of independent shows. Such shows often hold auditions open to all in the dance community, rookies and veterans alike.
Independent Student Shows | Body+Sole has been increasingly helpful in assisting motivated students coordinate and produce independent shows of their own choreography, unaffiliated with any group or class. These shows are most often organized by seniors as a thesis component; in recent years, both an MCM thesis and an independent concentration Dance thesis have taken the form of independent shows. Such shows often hold auditions open to all in the dance community, rookies and veterans alike.
Facilities
Alumnae Hall
performances, ballroom/salsa rehearsals stage, lights, sound, accessible Stuart Theatre
performance space stage, lights, sound, sets Production Workshop (PW)
performance, up + downspace lights, sound, seating, sets |
Ashamu Studio
performance, rehearsal mirror, lights, sound, accessible Nelson Fitness Center
rehearsal, studios 1+2 mirror, sound, bars, accessible Sayles Hall
performance, ballroom/salsa rehearsal some lights, sound, not accessible |
Kasper Multipurpose Room
rehearsal, events accessible OMAC Dance Studio
rehearsal mirror, sound, bars TF Green Studios 205 + 114
rehearsal, workshops mirrors, sound (205 only) |
Grants + Funding Sources
Brown has a few different options for funding. We have two major grant-making bodies that fund dance-related projects, the Creative Arts Council and the University Finance Board (UFB). Student groups have access to UFB funds through traditional and supplementary budget processes, but so far, individuals' independent dance projects have not been supported. Body+Sole as it grows may be able to support projects financially. All students can apply for a dance-related Undergraduate Teaching and Research Awards (UTRA) with a faculty sponsor. Each of these funding sources have different requirements.
Creative Arts Council Grants | The CAC has three grants: The Flexible Fund Grant, available to faculty and students with faculty sponsors,The Artist-in-Residency Grant, available only to faculty, and the Student Grant, which is specifically for students. The Flexible Fund Grant is "offered once per semester to Brown-based faculty or students with faculty sponsors in support of projects including, but not limited to: performances, lectures, festivals, visiting artists, symposia, etc." for funds up to $5,000. For more information on these grants, check out the CAC's grant website. The Student Grant is "offered once per semester to undergraduate and graduate students in support of projects dealing with the production, study, or critique of the creative arts," for funds up to $2,000. "Requests in excess of $1,000 must display a wide scope of interest, and be interdisciplinary in nature." Here's more info on this grant. In general, the CAC is interested in promoting interdisciplinary or multimedia work. In making a grant request, you need to be sure that what you want to do really fits the selection criteria of the organization you apply to. Otherwise you're barking up the wrong tree and it's a waste of time and paper. So it's important to look at all the stipulations and information available on the CAC website, and be sure that your request is a fit for them, and that you're applying to the right grant. In general, grant-makers want to see that you have a detailed and reasonable budget, that you are well organized and can justify why your project deserves funding, and that your vision is in line with theirs.
University Finance Board | UFB gives funding to student groups, depending on their category status. Category II and III groups are automatically granted $90 in social funds, and Category III groups can apply for additional funds, varying according to need and the UFB budget (which in 2006 totaled around $900,000 for all the student groups). For more information on how to apply to supplementary funds, and how the system of group categories works, see: http://www.brown.edu/Students/UFB/index.php
Also, the Student Activities Office website has additional information about other ways of getting funding:http://www.brown.edu/Administration/Student_Activities/funding/
Body+Sole | As our organization grows as a student group we may have some funds to help out with projects to enrich and expand the dance community at Brown, in the mean time we hope we can support organizationally by connecting people to resources.
UTRAs | UTRAs (Undergraduate Research and Teaching Awards) fund collaborative work with students and professors. There are four types: Research Collaboration, Teaching Collaboration, Team UTRA, and International UTRA. Applications are usually due at the beginning of February. More info here.
Past dance UTRA Recipients
ASaP Artists and Scientists as Partners
Nicole Thompson - "Festival Culture and Mande Performance" – 2006 (Bach-Coulibaly)
Victoria Fortuna - "The Dancer and the Dance: Issues of the Body in Contemporary American Dance" – 2005 (Strandberg)
Mikiko Thelwell, "Identity and Empowerment through the Arts" – 2005 (Bach-Coulibaly)
Kyle Shepherd, Sara Griffith, "The Saffo Project" (Team International Travel) – 2004 (Bach-Coulibaly)
Sarah Burns - "Talley Beatty: Developing a Documentary" – 2003 (Strandberg)
Deborah Friedes - "Research on Sophie Maslow's "The Village I Knew" – 2002 (Strandberg)
Jeffrey Edwards, "Modern Dance: The Great Masters" – 2002 (Bach-Coulibaly)
Lynnette Freeman, Isabelle Kalubi, Hentyle Yapp, Zachary Ginsberg, "The Spiritual and Social Implications of Mande Performance Traditions" (Team International Travel) – 2002 (Bach-Coulibaly)
Deborah Friedes - "Creating a Resource Guide for Middle and High School Students on the New Dance Group: Jewish American Culture in American Modern Dance" – 2001 (Strandberg)
Kyle Shepard - "Creating a Resource Guide for Middle and High School Students on the New Dance Group: South Asian Influences on American Dance" – 2001 (Strandberg)
Jon Martin - "Making Dance Accessible through Technology." – 2000 (Strandberg)
Ryan Smith - "Jazz Dance: An Indigenous American Art Form" – 2000 (Strandberg)
Creative Arts Council Grants | The CAC has three grants: The Flexible Fund Grant, available to faculty and students with faculty sponsors,The Artist-in-Residency Grant, available only to faculty, and the Student Grant, which is specifically for students. The Flexible Fund Grant is "offered once per semester to Brown-based faculty or students with faculty sponsors in support of projects including, but not limited to: performances, lectures, festivals, visiting artists, symposia, etc." for funds up to $5,000. For more information on these grants, check out the CAC's grant website. The Student Grant is "offered once per semester to undergraduate and graduate students in support of projects dealing with the production, study, or critique of the creative arts," for funds up to $2,000. "Requests in excess of $1,000 must display a wide scope of interest, and be interdisciplinary in nature." Here's more info on this grant. In general, the CAC is interested in promoting interdisciplinary or multimedia work. In making a grant request, you need to be sure that what you want to do really fits the selection criteria of the organization you apply to. Otherwise you're barking up the wrong tree and it's a waste of time and paper. So it's important to look at all the stipulations and information available on the CAC website, and be sure that your request is a fit for them, and that you're applying to the right grant. In general, grant-makers want to see that you have a detailed and reasonable budget, that you are well organized and can justify why your project deserves funding, and that your vision is in line with theirs.
University Finance Board | UFB gives funding to student groups, depending on their category status. Category II and III groups are automatically granted $90 in social funds, and Category III groups can apply for additional funds, varying according to need and the UFB budget (which in 2006 totaled around $900,000 for all the student groups). For more information on how to apply to supplementary funds, and how the system of group categories works, see: http://www.brown.edu/Students/UFB/index.php
Also, the Student Activities Office website has additional information about other ways of getting funding:http://www.brown.edu/Administration/Student_Activities/funding/
Body+Sole | As our organization grows as a student group we may have some funds to help out with projects to enrich and expand the dance community at Brown, in the mean time we hope we can support organizationally by connecting people to resources.
UTRAs | UTRAs (Undergraduate Research and Teaching Awards) fund collaborative work with students and professors. There are four types: Research Collaboration, Teaching Collaboration, Team UTRA, and International UTRA. Applications are usually due at the beginning of February. More info here.
Past dance UTRA Recipients
ASaP Artists and Scientists as Partners
Nicole Thompson - "Festival Culture and Mande Performance" – 2006 (Bach-Coulibaly)
Victoria Fortuna - "The Dancer and the Dance: Issues of the Body in Contemporary American Dance" – 2005 (Strandberg)
Mikiko Thelwell, "Identity and Empowerment through the Arts" – 2005 (Bach-Coulibaly)
Kyle Shepherd, Sara Griffith, "The Saffo Project" (Team International Travel) – 2004 (Bach-Coulibaly)
Sarah Burns - "Talley Beatty: Developing a Documentary" – 2003 (Strandberg)
Deborah Friedes - "Research on Sophie Maslow's "The Village I Knew" – 2002 (Strandberg)
Jeffrey Edwards, "Modern Dance: The Great Masters" – 2002 (Bach-Coulibaly)
Lynnette Freeman, Isabelle Kalubi, Hentyle Yapp, Zachary Ginsberg, "The Spiritual and Social Implications of Mande Performance Traditions" (Team International Travel) – 2002 (Bach-Coulibaly)
Deborah Friedes - "Creating a Resource Guide for Middle and High School Students on the New Dance Group: Jewish American Culture in American Modern Dance" – 2001 (Strandberg)
Kyle Shepard - "Creating a Resource Guide for Middle and High School Students on the New Dance Group: South Asian Influences on American Dance" – 2001 (Strandberg)
Jon Martin - "Making Dance Accessible through Technology." – 2000 (Strandberg)
Ryan Smith - "Jazz Dance: An Indigenous American Art Form" – 2000 (Strandberg)
Start a new group
Brown has tons of different ways to dance, but if you don't see an option that's right for you, or want to add something new to the Brown dance community, contact Body+Sole Director Megan Gessner ([email protected]). Shoot her an email and y'all can set up a time to discuss establishment and funding strategies, facility and scheduling considerations and incorporation into Body+Sole.